State of 5G in Saudi Arabia: Expectations and current reality

5G not only offers major breakthroughs for Saudi Arabia’s most profitable industries, including gas and oil, logistics and services, but also has the potential to drive innovation through IoT-powered smart cities. The kingdom is an established 5G pioneer, not just in the Gulf region, where it ranks closely with the UAE and Qatar, but globally, where it consistently ranks among the world’s highest available speeds.

Average download speeds in Saudi Arabia have reached 322 Mbps, more than double the global average, according to network testing company Ookla. Saudi Arabia’s success is due in no small part to its transformative policy of making all 1200MHz of the 6GHz band available for unlicensed Wi-Fi use in the lower and mid-bands, and the crowded 2.4GHz and 5 GHz bands to enable businesses and individuals to deliver next-generation applications and services. As one of the few countries to have tapped into the 6 GHz frequency band, Saudi Arabia will not only benefit from faster connectivity, but also the opportunity to accelerate the adoption and deployment of new technologies as they emerge.

What is 5G?

The ultra-fast speed, low latency and higher capacity of 5G for connected devices are among the main benefits of 5G. It consumes less power and is up to 20x faster than 4G and can handle massive amounts of data, allowing cloud and edge computing applications to process data exactly when and where it’s needed. 5G enables network slicing – a technique that allows multiple virtual networks to run on a shared infrastructure, allowing them to be flexibly tailored to the specific needs of different groups. 5G offers real-time data exchange that is combined with AI and machine learning can provide important insights for the management of critical systems for so-called smart cities like the massive Neom project in Saudi Arabia.

5G coverage is expanding

According to GSMA Intelligence data, 78% of the Saudi population now has 5G coverage, compared to 43% two years ago. “This underscores solid progress while showing that more needs to be done to expand coverage, particularly in remote desert areas where the economics of deploying the network are most challenging,” said Kenechi Okeleke, Director of Regional, Social and Policy Research at GSMA Intelligence. “In response, the country’s three largest mobile operators recently rolled out a domestic roaming service in the Asir region, allowing users to connect to any available cellular network in the event of coverage gaps on their own operator’s network. There are plans to expand this service to more villages and settlements to improve the user experience.”

For example, says Okeleke, Zain KSA recently announced the launch of a 5G Standalone (SA) network, which will provide additional capacity and much lower latency for key enterprise use cases, such as mobile communications. B. the industry can offer internet of thingsas well as augmented and virtual reality.

5G is also accelerating in Saudi Arabia: analytics firm Open Signal found that national average speeds more than doubled from 2019 to the end of 2021, placing the country in the top 15 globally for fastest average and peak download speeds (230th Mbit/s and 637 Mbit/s) ) as well as for 5G video experience, availability and range.

Further network allocations planned for 2022

After opening up the 6GHz band to unlicensed users last year, the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) plans to allocate three frequencies in 2022: 450MHz for a “mission-critical” communications network; 2100 MHz for non-terrestrial networks (NTN) such as wireless connectivity in aircraft and 5G satellite communications; and the 600 MHz, 700 MHz, and 3800 MHz spectrums for international mobile telecommunications (IMT). The application deadline for the 450 MHz frequency, intended for specialized broadband networks for businesses, is set for May 19.

Which industries can benefit the most?

For consumers, 5G means faster connectivity, better mobile video and voice experiences, and more immersive entertainment, including high-quality live streaming for games, virtual reality, and e-sports – a huge benefit considering that almost half of Saudi Arabia’s population likes to play regularly. But businesses will benefit the most from universal 5G rollout, from Saudi Arabia’s booming logistics and services sectors to the oil and gas industry, which still accounts for about 40% of the country’s GDP.

“Notable 5G applications that could benefit businesses in Saudi Arabia include centralized surveillance monitoring, production process analysis and equipment maintenance, smart meters, smart parking, vehicle tracking and smart farming applications,” says Okeleke.

5G and IoT Saudi’s smart city projects

“The Saudi government is also keen to leverage the capabilities of 5G efforts to improve the quality of life in cities through a range of smart city initiatives, most notably the purpose-built Neom,” says Okeleke. The $500 billion megacity project aims to transform a remote 26,500 square kilometer area on the Red Sea coast into the kingdom’s own Silicon Valley, complete with research centers, commercial zones and residential communities powered by renewable energy will. Work has recently begun on The Line, a 170-kilometer car-free city that will operate on a network of IoT devices and resident data, from autonomous ultra-high-speed trains to smart homes and offices.

“5G will be central to the functioning of these cities and the delivery of public services across the country, enabling large-scale IoT deployments for greater productivity and efficiency in key sectors such as transportation, utilities, healthcare and other critical public service sectors” , says Okeleke.

In April 2022, STC and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia launched a joint venture to create a new company to promote IoT technology in smart cities and industries such as manufacturing, logistics and transportation. The company’s consulting arm will also guide companies through the entire IoT adoption process, from developing new financing models to enable adoption of the technology to providing team support and training courses.

5G supercharges cloud and edge computing

The growth of 5G gives cloud computing a significant boost as it enables businesses to transfer and store large amounts of data quickly and securely, creating a more efficient and collaborative workspace. Moving to the cloud allows organizations to focus on strategic operations, reduce costs and increase scalability. Saudi Arabia launched its Cloud First Policy in 2019 to encourage the use of cloud-based solutions for government agencies and businesses alike. The country’s cloud market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 35% between 2021 and 2030, presenting a lucrative opportunity for cloud service providers as companies like Saudi Aramco move their operations to the cloud.

The high bandwidth and low latency of 5G has also opened up new opportunities for edge computing, and key industries such as transportation, logistics, security and manufacturing can benefit from the real-time insights the technology provides. Edge computing, or processing and storing data closer to the data source, reduces latency issues that would impact the performance of critical applications.

Saudi Arabia’s sprawling surveillance networks require constant and reliable connections to security cameras operating at the network edge; the autonomous trains must react in real time to ensure passenger safety; Its $27 billion transportation and logistics market requires complex data for predictive maintenance in warehouses, deploying robots and ensuring large volumes of goods get to customers quickly and accurately. Edge computing will be critical to the latency goals that Saudi Arabia’s network providers have in mind, making 5G and edge computing symbiotic partners in Saudi Arabia’s 5G transformation.

The future of 5G

Saudi Arabia’s ambitious investments in 5G and its digital economy are starting to pay off. CITC expects 5G and Wi-Fi 6E to increase the contribution to the country’s GDP from US$4.7 billion in 2021 to more than US$18 billion by 2030. 5G is the launch pad needed to accelerate the development and deployment of new technologies such as AI, IoT, cloud and edge computing, with the potential to transform the IT industry in ways we can only begin to predict .

With the rapid spread of 5G networks, the Kingdom faces a number of challenges, including successful nationwide rollout in rural areas, developing and attracting tech talent, ensuring data security and privacy, and discovering new use cases and related services. The 5G revolution has presented Saudi Arabia with a new set of questions about how businesses and societies could function, driving a fundamental paradigm shift that is giving the kingdom new ways to thrive.